This invention relates to electronics, in general, and to semiconductor components and methods of operation, in particular.
Different types of semiconductor components are often used in automotive and other high voltage applications. These different types of semiconductor components include discrete devices and integrated circuits. As an example, the discrete devices can be power Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) transistors having source, gate, and drain terminals. These different types of semiconductor components have been combined onto a single semiconductor chip to reduce the cost and space required for the semiconductor components.
One significant problem of these combined semiconductor components occurs when the drain terminal of the power MOS transistor is forward biased. The forward biasing of the drain terminal injects minority carriers into the semiconductor substrate, and the minority carriers degrade the performance of the integrated circuit or circuits located on the same semiconductor chip.
Several prior attempts have been made to either contain the injected minority carriers or suppress the injection of minority carriers. These prior attempts, however, still have disadvantages of low drain-to-source breakdown voltage, large epitaxial semiconductor layer thickness, and/or non-isolated power transistors.
Accordingly, a need exists for a semiconductor component with a power transistor combined with an integrated circuit onto a single semiconductor chip where the power transistor has a high drain-to-source breakdown voltage and is isolated from the integrated circuit. A need also exists for the epitaxial semiconductor layer, in which the power device and the integrated circuit are formed, to have a small thickness. A further need exists for a method of operating a semiconductor component to suppress the injection of minority carriers into the semiconductor substrate.